Mama blue, how do you do?

This pretty little bluebird lady and many of her friends, male and female, seem to see our deck as the social hot spot.  We don't mind in the least.

Some days are like that

Some days just plain go well. Today we slept through the alarm and woke up incredibly late–fifteen minutes before Jon should have left for work and Calvin and myself for music class–but instead of stressing about it we embraced the little sleep-in and moved somewhat slowly and sleepily into the demands of the day. We opted to skip class just today in favor of a lazy rainy-day morning at home before venturing out to do our weekly shopping, including a stop at the children's resale shop. Now how often do you think I find exactly what I am looking for in a store like that?  Rarely (though I usually find plenty of other things to buy, of course), but today we found exactly, and I mean exactly, what we needed which was some really awesome new rain gear.  After resale it was on to the grocery store, and what could be exciting about that?  Well, because the store is under construction they are rewarding anyone and everyone who comes through the door just for showing up still, and that scored us some major awesome deals, including new bread pans (in exactly the size we've been looking for) and a mixing bowl, all at 50% off.  As we were preparing to check out Calvin asked for a sushi lunch, and how could I say no?  It is one of our favorite treats.  And after that and a romp in the rain (so I could snap some pictures of the aforementioned awesome new rain gear) Calvin settled back for his afternoon nap while I played in the kitchen (mmmm bread making).  And as if all that wasn't pleasing enough, I also got a card in the mail today (I love getting good mail), finished a good book, and made one heck of a yummy dinner if I do say so myself (and Jon, Calvin, and my dad, who joined us, agreed - see the To Your Health section for the recipe). Yep. Today was just one of those days, in the best way possible.

Ahhh, spring

March in Michigan is such a tricky time.  Today it was 65 and sunny, tomorrow it will be cool and rainy, and next week we are to expect snow.  Some will say that spring was teasing us with just a glimpse today, and that she will leave us next week for winter's return, but I disagree; I think she's in on it, she and winter, the lion and the lamb.  We always have at least one month when spring-like days are interspersed with snowfall and bone-chilling weeks.  Yep, I'm sure she's in on it.  And I've always hated warm day teasers because the return to the biting cold and snow is always so much harder as the year wears on, but things are different now.  Now I have a toddler and I have learned how to get the better of fickle tempers - Ignore the bad and take advantage of the good.  So today, on upswing number one (65 and sunny, remember?) we took a long walk, revisited our tree stump and counted its rings (still the same number), tested tree age based on how hard they were to hug (i.e. trunk size), ate lunch on the porch (our first picnic of the year), listened to and watched for birds (they're not very shy about visiting the feeders), and even made use of our ride-on toys (and by our I mean Calvin's, of course).  Yes, I guess I will take spring any way I can get it.

There are more pictures in the March 2009 album.

Shoes

Learning to put them on got a lot easier with the introduction of velcro, but you still have to get them on the right feet all by yourself.  Or not.

It may be winter today...

but it was spring (in February) on Tuesday.  I miss the puddles already.